In a collection of personal stories from families who have faced similar experiences, Mrs Brown, 47, disclosed how she was only able to cope with her "debilitating pain" after realising she “did not need to mend” herself.

“The cliché that the passage of time helps is certainly true," she wrote in the short piece, in extracts that were released on Wednesday.

"The first lesson is to recognise that the big overwhelming, debilitating pain that hits from time to time does subside and, as hard as it is to go through it, you learn that you do come out of the other side each time.